Improved railroad-jack



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

MICHAEL KELLEY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED RAILROAD-JACK.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent N0. 41,304, dated January19, 1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MicHAEL KELLEY, or" the city of Philadelphia, in theState of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Machine forRepairing Railroad Tracks, which I shall name a RailroadJack;77 and I dohereby declare the following to be a full and exact description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the referenceot' letters marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in the peculiar mode or form ot'construction ot' a jack that will rest on the ground on each side of therail and between the eross-ties of an ordinary railroad, with jawsattached to the lower end of a hoisting-screw, which shall beimmediately over the said rail, so that incase of sunken rails or tiesthe track may be readily raised and repaired, instead of by the commonmode of digging ont ties and raising them by pries, which methodrequired double the number ot' hands and twice the expense incurred bymy method.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

My improved jack consists ot1 the crossbar or nut a, to which aresecured the four legs b b b b, the lower ends of the latter beingsecured,`two of the legs to a plate, c, and the other two to a similarplate.

A screw, D, is adapted to the nut a, the npper end of the screw beingprovided with a suitable handle, and a swivel, fn, is so connected tothe lower end of the screw as to turn freely thereon, jaws P P beingconnected to this swivel by links o o.

It should be understood that the legs b b and plates c c are soconstructed and arranged that the said plates shall rest on the ground,one plate on one side, and the other plate on the opposite side of therail, as seen in Fig. l, and between the cross-ties, to which the railis secured, as seen in Fig. 2, the jaws P P being consequently in aposition to seize the rail, which, together with the cross-ties orsleepers, can be elevated by turning the screw D.

I am aware that a jack somewhat similarin form to that described hasbeen used for eX- tracting the spikes, which hold the rails to thecross-ties. In this case, however, one of the legs was shorter than theother, so as to bear on the rails while the other legs rested on thecross-ties or sleepers, the instrument being consequently inapplicableto the performance of the duties accomplished by my improved jack, theplates o c of which must rest on the ground, clear of both rails andcrossties.

I wish it to be understood that I lay no broad claim to any part of thejack viewed separately from the whole; but that l limit my claim to anddesire to secure by Letters Patent for- The within-described jack,composed of the nut or plate a, the legs b, plates c, secured to thesame, the screw D, swivel n, and jaws P, when the said plates arearranged to rest on the ground between the cross-ties, one plate on eachside of the rail, and when the whole is otherwise constructed as and forthe purpose herein set forth. MICHAEL KELLEY. Witnesses:

Gn. P. HAYES, WM. P. HENszEY,

